Palestinian leader threatens “new measures” against Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today threatened “new measures” against Israel if its leaders did not accept his conditions for peace talks by the end of the month, the AP reports from the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Abbas later met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the first time in over a year, as part of an effort by the Quartet (US, United Nations, Russia, European Union) to resuscitate stalled peace negotiations.

The Palestinian leader wants Israel to halt completely its construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and return to its borders prior to the 1967 war, when it seized Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Ahead of a formal news conference, AP reports:

A Palestinian participant said there were no breakthroughs, and there were no plans for further talks.

Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who leads the Gaza Strip, is in Turkey as part of a regional tour to shore-up support for his Islamist movement, and his first trip outside the blockaded territory since 2007.